Outside the door!

Jingrong obediently stood outside. Although he was under the eaves, the slanting rain still desperately assailed him. Fortunately, he had that rain cape on to shield him.

“Finished examining?” he asked her.

She nodded faintly.

“Then let’s go.”

Ji Yunshu had just put on her rain cape and bamboo hat when she heard a voice in the distance: “Who’s there?”

She saw two yamen runners carrying lanterns rushing over urgently, their hands gripping large sabers, ready to move.

Jingrong immediately embraced Ji Yunshu. With a push of his feet, he leaped onto the roof beams and disappeared into the eerie night under the heavy rain.

The two yamen runners came up empty!

One of them wanted to push open the morgue door to check inside, but was stopped by the other.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking if anything’s missing inside.”

“There are only corpses inside, and it stinks terribly. What could be missing?”

“Then those two people just now?”

The man said, “Forget it. It’s so late already. If you go notify the superior, we’ll have a busy night ahead.”

True enough!

So the two of them suppressed what had just happened.

They walked away carrying their lanterns that swayed in the wind.

…

The next day!

The heavy rain had become light rain, and the weather had improved somewhat.

Because the case of murder and corpse burial was to be publicly tried at the yamen, word had already spread throughout the small city of Jinjiang. Common people concerned about the matter had gathered outside the courtroom, their curious eyes peering inside with all their might.

Ji Yunshu and Jingrong also went, but hid within the crowd.

Tang Si, out of curiosity, had followed along too, but was held at Ji Yunshu’s side to prevent her from bouncing around and creating trouble through her antics.

Soon, Liu Qian, dressed in official robes, emerged from the door on the left side of the courtroom and ascended to the high seat.

This man had a fierce countenance. His tightly furrowed brow pressed down on his sharp eyes. His face bore a neatly trimmed short beard. His tightly pressed lips gave one a sense of authoritative intimidation without anger. At first glance, he really didn’t look like a magistrate but rather like a mountain bandit, without half the refined scholarly temperament. Probably because of his military background, he gave off an oppressive sense of distance.

As soon as Liu Qian sat down, he grabbed the gavel beside him and struck it forcefully.

“Bang!”

That sound was much more powerful than when Liu Qingping wielded it.

The common people gathered outside the courtroom all shut their mouths, not daring to make the slightest sound.

“Someone, bring up the suspect.”

Liu Qian ordered!

Soon, Fu Bo was dragged up to the courtroom by two yamen runners who mercilessly struck his knees with their saber handles, forcing him to kneel down.

The crowd was in an uproar!

Not because the suspect in this case had appeared, but because of the crisscrossing bloody marks on Fu Bo’s body. His clothing had been torn by whipping, faintly revealing the whip wounds on his flesh beneath. Yet Fu Bo’s face bore no injuries. He knelt on the ground, swaying unsteadily, supporting himself with no strength, until finally his entire body collapsed to the ground.

Everyone began discussing in low voices.

Tang Si had a short temper. She stomped her foot and said angrily, “What kind of magistrate is this? To beat an old man like this—is there no law? He even dares to use a whip on people. I must teach him a lesson.”

As she spoke, she grabbed at her waist with both hands, preparing to pull out that silver whip.

She was immediately blocked by Jingrong.

He scolded, “If you do this, I’ll have Lang Bo send you back.”

Her hand paused. She instinctively looked at Lang Bo beside her, seeing that he too was looking at her. She had no choice but to suppress the fire in her heart and reluctantly released her hand from the silver whip.

At this moment in the courtroom, another strike of the gavel sounded.

Liu Qian looked sternly at Fu Bo lying powerlessly on the ground and said, “Do you, the person before this court, admit your guilt?”

Fu Bo barely lifted his head, his hunched body trembling violently.

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

“With both witness testimony and physical evidence present, don’t think of denying it! If you confess truthfully, you can be spared physical suffering.”

“My lord, I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Fine. Since you won’t admit it, this official has no choice but to present the evidence before you.”

Liu Qian’s sharp gaze swept over the yamen runner beside him. The runner nodded, and soon the evidence was presented.

Placed on a tray was that long sash!

The coroner from the yamen also arrived at the courtroom.

Liu Qian stared at Fu Bo on the ground and interrogated him, “Look carefully. Is this item yours?”

“Yes… it’s mine, but I…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted.

“So it is yours.” Liu Qian looked at the coroner, Old Chu, who was in his forties. “Old Chu, tell us what you discovered from examining the corpse.”

Old Chu bowed and nodded, pointing at the sash and saying with full certainty, “My lord, this sash was gripped in the deceased’s hand at the time. After comparison, the cause of death was indeed strangulation by this sash. I also found some fine gleditsia powder in the grooves of the deceased’s shoe soles. Such gleditsia powder is usually scattered most abundantly at mortuaries. Moreover, the deceased had bluish-purple grip marks on her wrists. Combined with the fact that someone personally witnessed Fu Bo burying something in those woods, it’s clear that before death, the deceased must have gone to the mortuary. Fu Bo developed lustful intentions. When the woman resisted, he forcefully gripped her wrists. After violating her, he strangled her to death with his own sash.”

A collective gasp!

The onlookers were shocked!

They began discussing in low voices again—some saying Fu Bo was extremely cruel, others half-believing and half-doubting.

This made Ji Yunshu’s teeth itch with the urge to curse.

She couldn’t enter yet—she was still waiting!

She saw Fu Bo shaking his head, nearly frantic. He wanted to speak in his defense, but the words stuck in his throat, unable to come out. Those weathered eyes could only widen, filled with helplessness.

Liu Qian’s resolute, cold face tensed. “Fu Bo, what else do you have to say?”

Yes!

Of course he did!

He choked with grievance for a long while. “My lord, I am wronged.”

“Then how do you explain why your sash was in the deceased’s hands? And how do you explain burying the corpse in the mountain forest?”

“I…”

“If you don’t speak, this official will convict you.”

Fu Bo opened his mouth and finally told the truth: “Several days ago, that young lady suddenly came to my mortuary. She said she had been harmed by someone and had lost her chastity. She no longer had the face to live in this world. She hoped that after death, I would bury her in the mountains, to return to the yellow earth, and not notify her family to avoid bringing them shame. At the time, I tried my best to stop her and comforted her. After her emotions stabilized, I thought she had abandoned the idea of seeking death. How could I know that I had only walked away for a while, and when I returned, she had already hanged herself.

She used this very sash to hang herself. I wanted to report to the authorities, but the young lady was already dead. After death, what’s most feared is unrest after death. This young lady had been violated—she was already pitiable. So I fulfilled her dying wish and buried her. But before death, she gripped that sash and wouldn’t let go, so I buried it together with her. My lord, I truly didn’t kill anyone, much less commit such an act.”

He spoke with utmost sincerity, tears glistening in his eyes.

But Liu Qian didn’t believe him at all. He was determined as iron to convict Fu Bo.

“These are all your one-sided words. Not worth this official’s trust in you.”

Just as he finished speaking—

A voice suddenly came from among the onlookers.

“Then, would you believe me?”

Following the voice, everyone’s gazes looked over. The crowd of onlookers naturally made way, retreating to both sides.

Ji Yunshu stepped through the crowd and entered.

Her figure moved gracefully, naturally carrying an air of proud righteousness.

“Isn’t that Master Ji?” someone exclaimed!